


Crimson rivers and marble skin

by Stanleymarshthealcoholic



Category: South Park
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 18:48:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15847215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stanleymarshthealcoholic/pseuds/Stanleymarshthealcoholic
Summary: mostly creek and style with other background relationships. lots of mentions of self harm and mental health issues. the self harm is fairly graphic.





	1. Awake and hurting

**Author's Note:**

> any mentions of self harm or mental health are in no way meant to offend or romanticize these serious issues and I do have experience with depression and self harm, so most references to these things are written with regards to my own experiences.

Craig Tucker, aged 17, sat on the edge of his bed, the morning of his first day of his junior year. He was wearing only his navy boxers, and trying to motivate himself into getting dressed for school. His fingers feathered over the faded scars on his upper thighs and he found himself yearning for the release. Fuck it, it's not like he's fully relapsing- it doesn't count if you only do it once, right?  
He reached into his bedside cabinet and pulled out the old blade he kept in spite of having been 'clean' for almost six months. It was a simple pencil sharpener blade, and he felt ashamed as he looked at the marred skin. He dragged the blade across the top of old scars, just enough to break the uppermost layers of skin. The relief was almost instantaneous, but so was the crashing wave of shame. He was supposed to be over this shit. Whatever. He wiped the blade across his cotton briefs and threw it back into the drawer, picking up the almost empty blisterpack of pills from beside it. He swallowed one dry- one thing about having to regularly take medication is that you get really good at that. He hadn't actually ever told anyone that he was on antidepressants, not even his fake-boyfriend Tweek. Especially not him. Tweek had enough of his own problems without having to worry about Craig's mental health too.  
The noiret stood and dragged his lethargic body to his closet. He didn't really need to fuss over what he was going to wear, seeing as his clothes included 3 of the same pair of torn black jeans, his 1 jacket, 3 black hoodies, his beloved chullo, and a multitude of space themed graphic tees. Grabbing the first things he saw, he dressed quickly. He really needed to get moving, seeing as Tweek was expecting him to pick him up in 20 minutes.

\---

Tweek Tweak, aged 16, was already dressed for school at 6.30 am. To say he was nervous would be an understatement- he had gotten used to the summer routine of work and hanging out with friends, and the idea of adding school back into the mix was somewhat daunting.  
He checked his outfit in the mirror for what felt like the 3000th time. Black long sleeve t-shirt, black jeans, green docs and a green plaid. Simple, and not likely to draw attention to him, just the way he liked it. He had another hour before he was expecting his 'boyfriend' Craig Tucker to pick him up.  
He knelt down beside his bed, pulling out the unassuming shoebox from beneath it. Double-checking that his door was locked, he removed the box cutter from it's hiding place and rolled up his sleeve. His arm was clustered with scars and cuts, the most recent still surrounded by scabbed blood. He bit his lip, drawing the blade across the top of his pale arm. After around 5 fresh marks were made, he pulled the sleeves back down, hiding the mutilated skin.  
By this point, it was time for him to take his pills. 2 antidepressants and an antianxiety. He swallowed them with the remains of his morning coffee, the cup sitting mostly empty on his dresser. 

\---

Kyle Broflovski, almost 17, rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes. He put on his glasses and was immediately greeted by the sight of the photo he kept on his bedside table- a candid shot of him and his super best friend and crush, Stan. He smiled slightly, knowing that in a couple of hours time he would be greeted by the ravenets goofy grin and a bro hug. He sighed slightly at the idea of a 'bro' hug. He had been in love with his SBF since before he even realized he was gay, and the hugs he shared with him were always slightly bittersweet- on one hand, he was hugging Stanley Randall Marsh, the tall, blue eyed 'school heartthrob'(a title coined after he was voted most attractive boy in school). On the other, he would never have a chance with Stan.  
The redhead pulled himself from his bed and picked out one of his go to outfits for his first day of junior year- black skinny jeans, an orange plaid shirt, blacl braces, his boat shoes and one of his many pairs of socks which Stan called pretentious.  
He dressed quickly, and after pulling back the long, unruly curls atop his head into a hairtie, heading out much too early for school but just in time to stop by Tweek Bros. for a coffee and to have a smoke on the walk to the coffee shop.

\---

Stan Marsh, aged 17, woke up predictably later than intended for his first day of junior year. He groaned, scratching at the scabs lining his thighs and hips. He reached into his bedside cabinet, retrieving the bottle of Jameson he kept there and taking a quick swig before standing and getting dressed as quickly as possible.  
Black jeans, black turtleneck, burgundy bomber and burgundy vans. Simple and flattering. He rushed out of the house and into his car, driving to school at 10 above the speed limit.


	2. Pretending to be ok to face the day

As Tweek and Craig exited Craig's black truck, parked in Craig's spot at the far end of the carpark, hands entwined, and Tweek saw 3 of his close friends sitting on the concrete blocks by the entrance to the cold, grey building that was Park County High School. Christophe "The Mole" Delorne, Park County's very own French mercenary, Damien Thorne, the son of Satan, and Damien's petite (though not as tiny as tweek himself) boyfriend Pip Pirrup.  
Christophe and Damien were passing a blunt between them, and Pip appeared to be asleep against his boyfriends shoulder. At any other school it might have been described as "ballsy" to smoke weed on school property, but at PCH it was generally described as "a Monday". The teachers and police were all pretty lax about... well, anything. After dealing with Eric Cartman for 17 years, the population of Park County had stopped caring about most technically illegal activities engaged in by the students.  
"Shouldn't do that NgHhh on school grounds guys." Tweek spoke as he got closer to his friends.  
"Since when to zey care here?" The Frenchman spoke, his surly attitude unsurprising after years of friendship.  
"I dunno, it's just like? Principle?" The blond scratched his head.  
"Tweek.... you just told a Merc and the son of satan to use principle." Craig spoke, a barely audible smile in his voice. "We should really head in, though, because if we miss meeting up with the guys before first period Clyde will cry and drown the whole school."  
"Gah! God, we should, mh, go then. See you guys later!" He waved, walking away from his friends.

\---

Stan practically lept from his car upon seeing the familiar red curls of his best friend as he leaned against the fence in front of Stan's parking spot. He rushed Kyle into a bear hug, practically lifting the much smaller boy off of the ground. As he pulled away from the hug he slapped Kyle's back, as is tradition for ending 'bro-hugs', it was the physical equivalent of saying "no homo" (although Stan secretly wished it was very very homo.)  
"Dude, sick, your hair smells like smoke." To punctuate his statement, he flicked the tuft of firey hair( he refused to call it a manbun, even though he was fully aware that was exactly what his SBFs hairstyle was) and grinned. "How many you had already?" He nodded towards the crushed pack off lucky strikes in Kyle's pocket, trying to mask the concern in his voice. Kyle, of course, saw right through that.  
"Only 2, dude. Don't worry."  
"I'm not! Ok, whatever man. What do you have first period?"  
"Uh, AP History. Pretty sure the only people in my class who I properly know are fucking Craig and Wendy." Stan bristled at the mention of his on-again-off-again girlfriend. They were in an off-again stage right now. He honestly didn't know why he kept getting back with her- scratch that, he knew exactly why. Because Kyle would never be interested and he liked being in a relationship. It didn't matter that he didn't really love her, seeing as he knew she was screwing Cartman behind his back anyway. They were just an old habit, nothing more. "What about you?"  
"Trig." He grimaced. "Do you have any classes that aren't AP this year?"  
"Nope."  
"Oh great, another year of classes without my Super Best Friend." He said dramatically.  
"Quit being such a drama queen, Stan." He rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever. Let's get to class I guess."

\---

Meeting up with The Guys still made Tweek nervous, even 7 years after being roped into their group. He definitely WAS a part of their group, and he loved them all, but he was much more comfortable around the group he considered more to be his own friends. It was worse since last February, when Clyde and Token finally got together after over a year of constant debate as to whether the other liked them back. It was torture to watch. Now they were a really gross couple, which wasn't really surprising seeing as Clyde was somewhat infamous for his overdramatic, public emotions. Seeing them together pulled at Tweek's stomach, which had confused him at first. Now, he was finally coming to terms with the fact he was jealous. He would deny it with every fiber of his being if confronted about it, but some part of him wished that the gross couple was him and Craig, which didn't make sense seeing as they were only fake dating, and Tweek would never admit that he had feelings for Craig beyond friendship to anyone- hell, he barely even accepted it himself!  
"H-hi gu-guys! I'm glad you- I'm glad- I'm glad you're h-here, these two ha-have been insuffer- insuff- insuff-ahhh, disgusting all morning." Jimmy was the first to address them, unsurprisingly, seeing as Clyde and Token were rather wrapped up in one another, cuddling and kissing like no one else was around.  
"Ngh, yeah, I swear they're getting worse." Tweek smiled slightly.  
"They're worse than us." Craig said, resting his arm over Tweek's shoulders. Tweek could hear the smirk in his voice, and knew that was a joke that only the two of them would fully get. "Hey, Tyde Pods, you have to get to class." Ever since Clyde went through his weeb phase in 7th grade, the group had used ship names to take the piss out of one another when being overly affectionate. The fact Clyde also jumped on any meme bandwagon and actually tried to eat a tide pod made the joke even funnier.  
"We know, Craig. Don't be an a-" Token was cut off by the bell ringing to signal first period.


	3. School sucks with no pretty boy to look at

Craig seated himself in his AP History class, naturally taking the seat in the back corner. He hated that he had to take AP to get onto the Astronomy course he wanted at UoC because it meant he was alone in his classes (by which he of course meant without Tweek, seeing as he technically wasn't 'alone'- Token was in many AP classes with him.)  
He groaned as none other than Kyle fucking Broflovski walked into the room. He had a strong dislike for Kyle, even more so than Kenny or Stan (he wouldn't go as far as saying he hated him more than Cartman, though) due to his pompous im-better-than-you attitude. Although he wouldn't admit it, Craig also hated that he saw parts of himself in Kyle. The redhead had been pining after his 'super best friend' since childhood, and Craig himself secretly had feelings for his own best friend, though he was stuck in a fake relationship with the object of his affections, which made things a little more complicated.  
Craig really thought that his class couldn't get much worse, until Wendy Testaburger walked through the door. Great. A class full of people he didn't know, Kyle and Wendy. Wendy was almost as obnoxious as Kyle was, plus she was the most popular girl in school, whereas Kyle's popularity was more modest. Sure, he was still popular, being one of the best basketballers on the school team, but he wasn't anywhere near the top of the metaphorical food chain. Craig himself was closer to the bottom of the social ladder- once the hype around him and Tweek died off around 6th grade, they both went back to being reasonably unpopular. Craig's group of friends were actually decently popular, mostly due to Jimmys hilarious personality and tokens semi-regular house parties which were the stuff of legends, but Craig was quiet and had no interest in socialising, unlike his friends. 

\---

By halfway through the first period, Kyle was already regretting taking AP classes again. Not only was he stranded in a room of 10 people he didn't know, 1 who hated him and 1 who he felt constantly at battle with, but he had already been given a ridiculous amount of work for the first day. He needed a smoke. 

\---

Tweek's classes were all sadly without Craig, Damien OR Christophe (Craig was in all AP classes, whereas his other friends simply had different electives), but at least he shared most of his timetable with Kenny and Butters. There were only 2 classes he didn't share with the pair, and both of those were shared with Stan Marsh. Although Tweek and Stan weren't close, they were comfortable enough with one another that they would consider themselves friends. Tweek's second period music class was shared with Stan, and after discussing their timetables, they both agreed that they were pretty lucky with their classes, seeing as Tweek always had a friend in one of his classes, and Stan shared all of his classes other than the two music lessons (practical music and musical theory) shared with Tweek with Clyde. Both Stan and Clyde had mostly filled their timetables with 'stoner/slacker electives', other than the music classes Stan had taken.

\---

By the time lunch rolled around, Stan couldn't wait to see Kyle. Although most of his classes had been pretty easy and largely filled with 'icebreakers' and getting books ready, it had been decidely boring and his favourite person was anything but.

\---

For tweek, rest of the week trudged along at a snails pace, with classes dragging and lunchtimes feeling like the best part of the day. On top of that, he couldn't even spend time with Craig after school because he had to work, and his dad had long since banned Craig from the shop for 'distracting' Tweek.

\---

The week moved similarly slowly for Kyle, as he had already been given a ridiculous amount of homework and reading tasks from his various AP classes which left him with no time to socialise, even with Stan, outside of lunchtimes.


End file.
